Quick Transmigration: Saving The Crazy Villainess 370 Mo Chou 8

"Yes, Sir," Fan Zheng nodded stiffly and replied in a low voice.

"I know it's hard to believe and you might think I've gone crazy. But I swear that I'm telling the truth. Me and my friends… We have all only intended to do some hiking for our semester break. This mountain happens to be our pick. All of us are very brave and are into some adventurous hobbies. But none of us ever thought that on our way here, we would experience something like that. My friends are quite traumatized."

The male lead looked a bit embarrassed from being stared at by the middle-aged man but thankfully the latter only did it for about three seconds before patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, lad. I understand."

'...what did you understand?' The male lead grumbled looking at the pity in the eyes of the man as he stared at him and his companions. He was afraid this person was already taking them for a bunch of crazies. 

At this point, the male lead had yet to realize that it was never normal to bring up paranormal stuff to a person he just met.

The ghost watching from a distance only had one word to describe him - idiot. 

"Sir?" Fan Zheng watched as the other sigh.

The village head was leading the group to the temple per their request. The weather was exceptionally nice, and the rural view was quite refreshing for those from urban places so the tension in the hearts of the college students faded a lot, although it couldn't be denied that fear was still lingering in their minds. 

Fan Zheng said again. "I would just want to ask since I'm pretty sure we're not the only tourists who strayed here… Did anybody else go through the same experience that we did?" 

After a moment of silence, Zhao Guo made a strange expression and looked back to the other villagers, then to the foreigners being entertained by them behind him. Because he visibly hesitated, the smart male lead understood that his guess was correct. 

Moments later, the honest-looking middle-aged man finally opened his mouth, leaning a bit closer to whisper, "Mr. Fang. I hope you won't spread this around. I don't want my fellow villagers to panic, especially the kids and womenfolk."

Fan Zheng nodded.

Zhao Guo continued, "To be honest… You're right. Although none of us, hunters, could see them, we don't dare go that way because those unseen evil beings there always attack us. Decades ago, we even have many people died there. Thankfully, we've learned to be self-sufficient, and the other side of the forest is safe. We usually hunt there and use that way to go to towns."

The young man knitted his brows. "I see. So the place is indeed haunted. But since there's something wrong in this part of the forest, why haven't you relocated yet? Don't you know those dirty things are really dangerous? A while ago, it's you who enumerated to me what they can do."

Zhao Guo laughed as he shook his head. "Yes. We know about the danger. But we are not afraid anymore, young man. Remember yesterday?"

The handsome youth stiffened upon remembering the ghosts could not get near this community.

The village head added, "Also, we're all used to rural life. I once brought my fellow villagers to a town, and while we appreciate some of the weird tools they have, their technologies and customs, in our hearts, nothing still beats the peacefulness of this place. The air is fresh, and we don't have to rely on paper bills to survive because we have everything here. We genuinely love our village."

'Liar,' Jiang Li secretly sneered to what he just heard. 'You know you're all a criminal so you don't dare leave this jungle. What love for the village are you talking about?'

The temple was in the southwest part of the village which was quite a distance away from the house the chief lent to them. They had been walking for almost thirty minutes. The path was no longer smooth and easy to trek since it was an uphill slope. After one last turn, leaving the last row of wooden houses for a road surrounded by paddies of rice, they saw a small construct at the end of the road, elevated by a fairly high stone staircase.

"I see. So this is the temple." Zhan Rong quietly said from behind. 

Fan Zheng looked at the wooden construct for a full minute. His pupil dilated as he felt that there was truly something different from the place. It had a trace of something magical. Or to be accurate, it had a heavy holy aura that was refreshing to the living, but fatal to all others.

No wonder they were saved and the locals were confident in staying. Because no ghosts would dare enter the village.

Fan Lan and the others stood meekly before the entrance. Their expressions solemn.

Seeing this, Zhao Guo smiled and said to Fan Zheng, "This is indeed the one giving us the confidence and peace of mind to continue making this place our home. According to our ancestors, the huge statue in the middle was blessed by a real immortal, granting it a mysterious power to deter hostile creatures, beasts and ghosts alike. Like you all, every foreigner we accepted went to this place. They also went through what you experienced last night. All, without exception, said they almost got killed… So as thanks for the second life they got, they dropped by this temple to pray."

Fan Zheng glanced at the middle-aged guy. He sincerely said, "Sir, your village is truly blessed."

"I agree." The man heartily laughed. "All my people know that, so we are doing our best to become humans worthy of divine grace." 

His answer garnered a look of respect from the youth, and another scoff from the ghost. 

With their curiosity satisfied, the group then bowed at the villager before excitedly going up the high staircase to enter the temple.

Zhao Guo smiled warmly as he followed.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li who was in Zhan Rong's necklace groaned. He was annoyed. He began to feel oppressed and uncomfortable as if gravity became ten times greater and started to influence even incorporeal beings like him. 

This was truly the most hated place of all ghosts and likewise, a place that hated ghosts. How he could stay and let himself be delivered to the temple's doorstep? Without a doubt, he would be exorcised in a minute!

Left with no choice, he stealthily left the necklace and grumpily watched as Fan Zheng and the others lined up before a strange bronze statue of an eight-armed half-naked man.

In actuality, even he thought there was nothing wrong in giving thanks for surviving a calamity. But when he heard Fan Lan thanked Buddha for letting them escape from the evil army? Jiang Li rolled his eyes then turned around to wander about the village.

'This stupid bunch is beyond saving. I'm sure the magnanimous Buddha is crying after being thanked for something like that.' 

Before truly leaving, he hid behind a small hut and peeked back once, just in time to see Zhan Rong pausing her steps and touching her necklace.

With slightly pursed lips, the female student glanced over her shoulder, her eyes were full of vigilance. 

Moments later, she tilted her head in confusion, 'Did I make a mistake just now? No one's at the back? But I'm sure I felt a foreign presence…'

Guo Hanying's voice rang to call her back to her senses, "Rong-Rong! You're so slow! What are you doing?"

After one last careful sweep of a glance around, Zhan Rong concluded that she had probably made up things in her head. She then resumed her strides and said, "Sorry, wait for me. I'll also join the prayer meeting."

The scene took place in a couple of seconds. But this made the ghost blanked out for some time. He then burst into laughter. It happened when he had already hidden from sight. Still, while it was reasonable for Zhan Rong to look back as it was her item that he had previously occupied, it was funny that the real exorcist, a disciple from Maoshan Sect did not feel his presence. 

The sun proved to be a nuisance to beings like Jiang Li, but thankfully the place was in the middle of a forest. There were not only houses around to help him. The trees were casting shadows, giving him more options. He felt very uncomfortable though even after reaching his goal, the center of the village, or more precisely, one of the bigger houses in that area.

"I need to get stronger so I can walk at daytime directly under the sun." He murmured to himself after appearing under a tree. He was yet to realize that his actions were a bit impulsive. Kids were playing nearby and one of them began to stare at his odd ethereal figure unblinkingly.

"Hi." Suddenly, a kid slowly smiled at him and even waved a hand.

Jiang Li was startled, looking at the one who spoke. He then checked whether he was the only one nearby and then stilled upon grasping that he really was. 

The kid's playmates also noticed his strange actions and stopped molding mud. A little girl whose face was already so dirty at this time in the morning blinked her big eyes at him and then followed the direction of his sight.

"Wang Delin, where are you looking?" she asked, furrowing her brows and returning her gaze to her friend.

The boy smiled then pointed at Jiang Li. "There." In his eyes was a handsome young man with clothes similar to what adult villagers usually wore.

However, it was different for his friends. The young girl and the others couldn't see Jiang Li. She asked hesitantly, "There? What's on the tree?"

"Is there something special about it?" asked the tallest boy.

Another playmate chimed in, "Wang, a rare bird or insect?"

This boy's eyes began to light up. His mind was simple so he even stood up and excitedly ran towards it to check if an interesting animal was hiding on its branches or leaves. The others just watched him go. 

"But I thought I heard him say 'hi' just now?" the girl murmured in a soft voice. 

To the confused little miss, the boy Wang Delin puzzledly replied, "I indeed said 'hi'." At the moment, the boy couldn't understand why he was getting weird looks from his friends. All he did was answer honestly and said he was saying hi to the person standing under the tree.

Jiang Li saw the exchange between the two and realized the kid was not in a good situation so he raised his hand and placed a forefinger before his lips. 'Hush! Don't speak anymore.'

With several pairs of eyes on him, the little boy let out a "huh?" which sounded quite cute but weirded out his few friends more. It was written all over their faces, they began to wonder whether their friends could see something they couldn't or if he had gone nuts.

'Don't tell them about me,' Jiang Li mouthed slowly.

Fortunately, the kid was not beyond saving as he finally got his meaning when Jiang Li shook his head numerous times without retracting the 'silence' gesture. The little boy no longer said anything about the ghost and pretended he was merely joking around.

"Gotya! You all have been fooled by me! Look! You all look stupid!"

"You're just acting?" asked another boy.

The little girl scrunched up her nose, feeling angry when she thought they might have been deceived. "Bad! Bad! You liar! Mom said naughty kids like you need to be punished!"

"Come and catch me then!" Wang Delin taunted, giving Jiang Li one last glance before running away. The angered kids did not hesitate to follow, pissed off by the laughter he let out.

The ghost's mood got uplifted and he began to chuckle while watching the kid steer the other children away from there. Their voices were full of vitality and innocence. Even though the majority were running around and shouting to catch their bad friend, the sight was still strangely heartwarming.

He was in a merry mood until a thought flickered in his mind causing his smile to be wiped off his face.

Jiang Li then stared at the house in front, the other reason why he infiltrated the village.

Chapter end